Causas de mortalidad por colecistectomía tradicional y laparoscópica 1991-2010 / Mortality associated with open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is nowadays the standard surgical treatment for cholelithiasis. Aim: To determine surgical mortality of laparoscopic cholecystectomy as compared with the open procedure. Material and Methods: Review of medical records of all patients subjected to open or laparosco-pic surgery in a surgical service of a clinical hospital, in a period of 20 years. Results: The records of 26.441 patients were reviewed. The figures for overall, open and laparoscopic surgery mortality were 0.16, 0.39 and 0.07 percent respectively. Only two of the 43 deceased patients, died as a direct complication of the surgical procedure. In the rest, the causes of mortality were underlying severe medical conditions. Conclusions: La-paroscopic cholecystectomy has a very low mortality that depends mostly on underlying medical conditions and advanced age.

Introducción: La colecistectomía laparoscópica se ha convertido en el gold standard de la cirugía biliar y se emplea masivamente en todo Chile. Objetivos: Determinar la mortalidad operatoria en 4 períodos de 5 años de la colecistectomía laparoscópica comparada con la colecistectomía tradicional. Material y Método: Se incluyó a todos los pacientes sometidos a colecistectomía, ya sea laparotómica o laparoscópica, entre enero de 1991 y diciembre de 2010 (20 años). Se analizó las causas de mortalidad, el grupo etario en que ocurrió y el tipo de abordaje quirúrgico. Resultados: Se operaron un total de 26.441 pacientes, con un promedio de 1.322 operados por año. La mortalidad global de la colecistectomía laparotómica fue de 0,39 por ciento y de la laparoscópica de 0,07 por ciento, con un promedio general de 0,16 por ciento. Las principales causas de mortalidad fueron patologías médica severas. Sólo 2 pacientes de los 43 fallecidos (5 por ciento) tuvieron una complicación directamente derivada de la cirugía como causa de la mortalidad. Conclusiones: La colecistectomía laparoscópica es una operación de muy baja mortalidad (7 de 10.000 operados). Esta complicación se presenta principalmente en pacientes con grave patología biliar, de edad avanzada y con múltiples complicaciones médicas.

Alteraciones de la tolerancia a la glucosa y frecuencia de síndrome metabólico en pacientes con enfermedad por hígado graso no alcohólico / Glucose tolerance alterations and frequency of metabolic syndrome among patients with non alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background: Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated to diabetes mellitus, obesity, disturbances in serum lipid levels, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Aim: To assess glucose tolerance and the presence of metabolic syndrome among patients with biopsy proven NAFLD. Patients and methods: Serum lipid levels, hepatic function tests were measured and an oral glucose tolerance test was performed in 46 patients (mean age 45±12 years, 36 females) without history of diabetes mellitus and with steatosis in a liver biopsy. Results: Mean body mass index of the sample was 37±12 kg/m². Seventeen percent had pure steatosis, 78 percent had steatohepatitis with or without fibrosis and 50 percent had fibrosis in the liver biopsy. Glucose intolerance and diabetes was found in 57 percent and 15 percent of cases, respectively. The presence of steatohepatitis was higher in diabetics, compared with subjects with glucose intolerance or a normal glucose response (43, 38 and 8 percent, respectively, p <0.0001). Ninety three percent had a metabolic syndrome and the proportion of biopsies with fibrosis was higher among subjects with more than three diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome compared with those with three or less criteria (59 and 46 percent, respectively, p <0.05). Conclusions: Glucose intolerance, diabetes and metabolic syndrome are common among patients with NAFLD, even when they are not obese.

Aspectos quirúrgicos del cáncer de vesícula biliar / Strategies for the surgical treatment of gallbladder cancer

There is controversy in some aspects of the surgical treatment of non-mucosal gallbladder carcinoma. An accurate staging based on T (wall) involvement is crucial, otherwise understanding may yield falsely pessimistic results. The decision about the type of resection to be performed should be based on patient status (age, performance, comorbidities, etc) and tumor characteristics (histological type, vascular, neural or lymphatic spread, cell differentiation, tumor involvement of surgical margins in cystic duct, etc). For muscular (T1b) involvement, there is a great controversy about performing a simple cholecystectomy or en-block radical resection. For T2 there is consensus that an en-block radical surgery including liver resection (IVb - V) and lymphonodal clearance should be performed, since this approach has a great impact in survival. The role of surgical excision for tumors with serosal or liver involvement is controversial, due to the poor survival of these patients. However we have observed a 13% actuarial survival at 5 years, in this subset of patients.